Content

After our first project of the year the kids reflected on it using a fishbowl discussion (you can see it here). One of the things that each class stated was that they grew tired of just watching google presentations. They all wanted to do something different, but talked about how they did not have the tools and did not have any experience doing something different. They did not know what is possible when given the choice to do anything that is possible. The next three assignments we did each added a “tool” to their belt. We did a straight forward paper and ink poster with a twist, a stop action video, and an animated video. Slowly we are adding to their repertoire.

I was asked by my admin to share with the staff what the new audio/video recording studio that I am building is capable of…that would be the studio that is not quite yet completed–ug. Last year it was built with basic gear (website still being built) on the third floor, but with an opportunity to go one floor down to a bigger room, a new seventh grade teaching position next door, and a victorious Kickstarter campaign giving us $$ to spend, the room is totally being re-done. I have learned that seventh graders are much….much slower than eight graders and after two months of after school Fridays we are still a couple weeks away from finishing it. I got to thinking about how I would share what the room could offer…I could mention the Rode mics, the Nikon 5200 and the 20’x20′ green screen (you should be getting shivers from that :). I realized I would get a similar reaction from the staff that I got from my kids. “Great, there is a lot of stuff to use but what would we use it for? What could we create? Could we see examples?”

So this post is actually for my collegues, it is full of examples of the gear in use. There are no examples of the actual room being used since it is not completed, but all the examples below use the same equipment that is available from the room and would have better if we had had the room to film them. If you are old follower of this blog, everything below is recycled from other posts 🙂

l believe that great classrooms can change the world. When classrooms include powerful stories, when those stories are told with heart the way they deserve to be told, kids thought patterns can change, they can be moved, fires are lit, and they will be inspired. Great classrooms just don’t just focus on content. They use the content in their course to deliver a story that has heart. 2 Floors Up has the space and gear that can help you and your students tell your stories with heart. So Moran Middle School…what can you do with the Two Floors Up room, gear, and student management team? Below is the start of what is possible…

Have pictures and videos from class activities? Send them to us and we will make a highlight video for you to share with parents. A simple example and a more complex one.

Want to go an extra step? Send us your images, quotes, work examples, and videos from the year and we will turn them into a classroom commercial for you:

The room has 14 2’x4′ whiteboards that can be used for RSA Style Videos (more on RSA Videos here)

This is all wonderful and I wish it had been available years ago when we used to do creative “performance tasks” that directly connected to classroom learning as opposed to the required performance tasks of the Common Core as interpreted by the Wallingford School District!!!!!

It is so exciting to me that this is happening in our school. I have seen this learning style, with Mr. Bogush, first hand. It is inovative and effective. To see the look on his students faces, when they realize what they are doing, is something to see!